Stuck
by Mary Cobden
Summary: Starting from the summer before Ginny goes to Hogwarts, she makes it her mission to not be 'another Weasley', living her life for her amusement. Rating will change in later chapters.


Disclaimer: J.K Rowling is extreme ruler of all, and this story does not strictly follow her magnificent books.

Chapter 1

Putt putt putt putt. Creeeak. Slam.

Ginny was lying in her bed staring at the ceiling, and smiling. Her brothers were back. The morning sun was shining through her window now. She had heard them sneak out last night, for what she didn't know, they had cleverly concealed the truth from her, which was a feat, especially for them.

It is finally Ginny's turn. Years of watching her brothers go off to Hogwarts and coming back with all of their adventurous stories about evil teachers, detentions, the famed Forbidden Forrest, and most recently Harry Potter. The amount of trouble her brothers (minus Percy) got into and still managed to stay in school was ridiculous. Ginny's mother still fawned over every little thing they did. Now don't think that Ginny didn't get attention from her mother, or that that would actually be a concern. And Ginny loves her brothers too. They are so protective and all interesting in their own ways, but there was a competitive streak in all of them, and Ginny too.

See Ginny was so looking forward to going to Hogwarts because she intended to out-do all of them. She was going to get the best grades, be the best Quidditch player, and best of all she was going to break every school rule, and not get caught once.

Over the years she had poured over the extra school books that were left around the house. Nothing went to waste in the Weasley household, but boredom definitely came easy, so Ginny was prepared.

Ginny threw back her covers, gave a stretch and got up. She cringed when her feet hit the floor. No matter how hot it got during the day the house was always cold in the morning. Shivering she searched for her sweater in the heaps of clothing on the floor. It wasn't there, so she bolted for the door and down the stairs to the kitchen.

"Mum, have you seen my jumper?" She asked upon barrelling into the kitchen.

"It was on the cat dear." Mrs. Weasley said while cooking up bacon.

Ginny turned her sights on the table, wanting so much to ask what they were up to last night, but she didn't have to. There was the famous Harry Potter, Ron's best friend (it had been annoying her so much how big headed Ron was getting about it), eating breakfast and smiling at her, his glasses slightly askew. She vaguely remembered seeing him right before the Hogwarts Express had left last year, but didn't know who he was then, looking at him now he looked nothing like she had built him up in her mind from the bedtime stories.

"Hello" Harry said, blushing a bit at the presence of a young female in the room.

Ginny smiled and turned to her brothers. "I guess I don't have to ask what you lot were up to with the car last night then." Ginny smiled and stole a piece of bacon off Fred's plate, and dancing out of his reach. "Hi Harry" she said walking around to his side of the table where there was an empty seat.

"Hello Weasley's!" Mr. Weasley was home, and promptly kissed his wife and took a seat at the head of the table. Settling in he noticed the dark haired boy at the table. "Who are you?"

"Um, I'm Harry Sir, Harry Potter."

"Are you really?"

"Your sons went to pick him up in your car." Mrs. Weasley chimed in accusatorially.

"Really?! How did it drive?" Everyone at the table smiled at this, as Mrs. Weasley smacked Mr. Weasley over the side of the head. "Ow, oh. That was very wrong boys. I never meant for it to be used."

"When everyone is done eating." Mrs. Weasley scowled, ignoring the barely concealed mirth of her breakfast crew, "We will be heading in to get everyone's school things".

"I don't have my list." Harry piped up. "How will I get it?"

"None of us have our lists yet, they're due in today" Ginny told him.

"I expect Dumbledore will know you're here, never misses a beat that man" Mrs. Weasley assured him.

As if on cue Errol flew into the window. Percy grabbed a napkin to wipe his mouth properly before retrieving the bird. Percy was head boy, the twins weren't expelled yet, not Harry and Ron, which after what Ginny was told from their previous year could very well have happened. And Ginny was accepted.

"Lockhart books" Ginny said examining her list. "Those are expensive!" Ginny was a little uneasy about that, she knew they weren't rich and remembered visiting Diagon Alley with her mum a few months previous and browsed through the Lockhart selection of stories no one should care about.

"We'll manage" Mrs. Weasley said.

Ginny felt Harry shift uncomfortably beside him.

While everyone slowly got up to go to their rooms and get ready Ginny snuck out the kitchen door and went to the barn where the car was. Opening the passenger side door she knelt down to find the gizmo's that she had observed her father putting in place to make the car fly and turn invisible, and she broke them with a wrench she'd found on the shop table. 'That'll stop them from sneaking off without me again.' She thought.

Later in Diagon Alley Ginny was fitted out with second hand merchandise that she would have to fix up; School uniforms that were ripped in areas and worn out in others, a cauldron that smelled awful, and a second hand wand that was sticky at the handle. She shrugged. Ginny knew she would spend the next few days putting spells on her clothes to fix them, and stylizing them a bit to put her signature on them. She would soak and scrub the cauldron until it stopped smelling, and she'd have to steal the wand polish from Percy to clean up her wand, also practise with it to train herself and her wand to be able to use it properly.

Running along after her mother she struggled to elbow her way into Borgan and Blotts where a sea of crazed women stared in awe at Gilderoy Lockhart. Ginny rolled her eyes and wandered over to the staircase to get away from everyone.

"Pathetic isn't it?" A blond boy asked her as she reached the landing halfway up the stairs.

"It really is." She agreed. "I've read some of his stuff that my mum has. She already knows how to do it, and better. He's just a pretty face and nonsense." Ginny rested her elbows on the bannister about a foot away from him.

"You think he has a pretty face then?" He teased.

Ginny looked up at him, he seemed to be rather sure of himself and he was smirking. She assumed he was a little older than her. It looked to be like he was proud of himself getting something he could use against her, a complete stranger, though the smirk looked a little out of place on his still baby face. Ginny smiled, her brothers were like this with her all the time, minus the hint of sadism. She stood up, faced him head on and reached out to him and straightened his tie. "You're not bad looking either." He looked a little astonished at her actions and words. She smiled and continued up the stairs.

Browsing through the collection on the top floor Ginny heard a commotion downstairs and a lot of people whispering "Potter", it didn't take a genius to figure out that she would be pulled out of the store quickly with Ron and Harry. With a sigh she headed back downstairs in time to find Harry covered in soot heading towards her with a pile of books. "Here" he said roughly while dropping them all unceremoniously into her cauldron "You can have these." Confused and a little overwhelmed at the new weight she had to carry she shrugged and went to follow behind him and Ron who had caught up to him.

"Bet you enjoyed that didn't you Potter?" The blond boy from before had cut Harry off from the exit.

Ginny caught his eye and she stepped in between him and Harry. "Leave him alone." She stated plainly shifting the weight of her cauldron.

"Yeah, he didn't want to get all that attention." Ron added.

Ginny and the Blond boy stared at each other. She saw realization come over his face and a hint of disappointment before he veiled it with a look of disgust. "What's this Potter? Found yourself a girlfriend?"

Ginny bit back a laugh at his rather pathetic prodding, and was about to counter with a well-timed "Jealous?" to spark more back and forth, however a man who was undoubtedly his father stepped in.

"Draco, what have we here?" His father looked impeccably groomed, kind of camp actually, and delicate.

"Alright you lot?" Mr. Weasley had just arrived and looked down on them obliviously.

"Arthur, perhaps you should spend less time associating with _Muggles_ and more time teaching your rugrats how to keep to their own kind." Mr. Blondie sneered.

"Lucius Malfoy." He jeered back. "My kids were raised proper, not pretentious."

The weight in Ginny's cauldron was too much to bear now; she had to set it down. Turning around to see if one of her older brothers were there to take it from her, she missed what set the two fathers into a fist fight but they certainly didn't miss bowling her over as they went after each other. She was pushed to the ground and her cauldron landed with a loud thunk beside her, spilling its contents. She closed her eyes as though that would somehow protect her from getting trampled. There was a noise a few feet away from her of a display case toppling over, and the proprietor was yelling for them to take it outside with no avail.

Two sets of arms grabbed her on either side to pull her upright. Harry had her right side and Draco her left. Draco immediately released her once he realized what he'd done. Harry looked at him a little confused and tugged on Ginny's arm a bit so she'd back away from him.

"ARTHUR" It was Molly Weasley to the rescue. Upon hearing her yell the two men jumped apart from each other. "Really! In a shop! In front of the children? What were you thinking?!" She'd have taken him by the ear if she weren't already so embarrassed.

Harry was watching the married couple interact with a bit of awe and Draco was rushing to the aid of his father. "Could you help me pick up my books please?" Ginny asked Harry.

"What?" Harry looked down at the floor to see all of 'her' Lockhart books and spell books scattered. "Oh, right, sorry yeah."

Lucius Malfoy even picked up a few and shoved them into her cauldron, leaving Ginny and, by the look of him, Draco surprised. "Take these girl, it's the best your parents can afford."

"Jack ass" Ginny said under her breath so just the Malfoy's could hear, and gave them a stern expression while she picked up her heavy cauldron once again before walking out of the book shop behind her parents with Harry and Ron on her heals.

The rest of the summer was uneventful. Her brothers weren't letting Ginny play Quidditch with them now that they had Harry and she was a _girl_. So she sourly went to her room, poured over a few spell books and a tattered looking diary (She assumed her mother put it in there so Ginny had something to 'talk' to since she couldn't talk to her mum) and practised with her newly cleaned wand by gluing her brothers school trunks shut. They all still swam in the pond, pushed each other out of trees and bet chocolate frogs on who could swing their gnome the farthest. Ginny had fixed up her uniforms and cauldron so now you would never know that she wasn't the first person to use them.

"I'm tellin' ya" Ron started off one night over a game of chess with Harry. "There are zero nice Slytherin's"

"I find that hard to believe" Ginny retorted as she watched Harry get annihilated by Ron, her turn was next.

"No really!" he continued. "Take Malfoy for instance. He was always trying to get us in trouble last year, and you saw him in Diagon Alley. He's awful."

Ginny didn't recall him being awful just clearly raised differently than she was, less accepting. "I bet when I get there, there will be at least one nice Slytherin I can point out to you. You just don't notice anyone unless they smack you in the face."

"Good Luck" Ron said, not really meaning it. "And I do so notice people. Fred, George, I notice people right?" He stood up to make himself more pronounced.

Ginny smacked him in the face, lightly. "Concentrate, you are playing chess here." Ron sat back down "What about the other houses? I don't hear too much about them." Ginny's upcoming sorting was piquing her interest in the houses. All she'd ever heard about growing up was Gryffindor. She knew all of the house names obviously, but didn't understand how the sorting worked and if it was a personality test then she wanted to know what each house would say about her.

"Hufflepuff's are weak." Ron said.

"That's a bit harsh." Harry countered "They aren't weak, just, maybe, the opposite of outspoken."

"Oh that's definitely different" Ginny stated with a roll of her eyes.

"Ravenclaw's are alright, if you like bookish." Ron said. Harry shrugged in agreement.

Now Ginny was a little confused. If their friend Hermione was really like they said she was, wouldn't she be in Ravenclaw, not Gryffindor? 'It can't possibly be a personality test then' Ginny thought. "What if I get sorted into another house?" Ginny asked with genuine curiosity. "What does that say about me?"

"Don't even worry about it little one" George said from the couch where he was chatting quietly with Fred.

"Yeah shorty, you'll be a Gryffindor for sure, you've got all the right qualities." Fred agreed.

Ginny smiled at them and turned back to the chess game, where Ron was one step away from winning. The wheels were turning in her head.

The day had come. Ginny's parents had dropped them all off at the train to school, and she couldn't find a private compartment anywhere. Or Ron and Harry actually, but their friend Hermione found her.

"Oh, you're Ron's sister aren't you." It was more of a statement than a question. "You can join me if you want." She was in a compartment with a boy who looked vaguely familiar.

"Sure" Ginny ducked inside their compartment. "Ginny, by the way."

"Hi Ginny, I'm Neville, I think I met you last year on the platform. Trevor was on your foot." Neville said, holding up his toad.

Ginny supressed a laugh "Right, I remember you now."

"Do you know where Ron and Harry are? I can't find them anywhere." Hermione asked.

"Haven't seen them since I went through the barrier."

The ride was long, and uneventful. Hermione had basically bullied Ginny into her uniform three hours before it was necessary. When the train stopped Ginny went to grab her things, but Neville stopped her. "There's no need." He said "It all gets taken in for you."

"FIRST YEARS. FIRST YEARS THIS WAY." A giant man was yelling. Ginny bid farewell to Neville and Hermione and went over to him. Ron and Harry were already there.

"Didn't see you on the train" Ginny said when she reached them.

"We weren't on the train" Harry said. Ron spotted Hermione and started waiving to her. "Tell you about it later." They both ran off to join her.

"So, we've got ourselves another Weasley eh?" The giant man asked. "Names Hagrid, I'm the groundskeeper here at Hogwarts."

"I'm the last in this lot" Ginny smiled, though she was a little peeved that her being singled out as 'another Weasley' had already begun. Ginny fell in line with the other first years, following to the boats that were taking them across the lake.

Ginny's boat contained twin girls and a boy. " I'm Madeline, and this is Mallory" Said the twin with longer hair. The twins were both lean and pale with dark hair. Madeline had hers in braided pigtails that hung down past her shoulders. Mallory was identical, except for her hair was in a bob that came just below her jaw line.

"Gavin" said the boy shortly. He seemed to be over whelmed with nervousness, staring cautiously at the water as the boat set off by itself.

"Ginny" She greeted them. The magnificent view of Hogwarts stopped any conversing that could have happened. This was something Ginny had been waiting for since before she could speak. This wonderful place that was going to hold the next seven years of adventure and trouble, hardship and romance, and she was looking forward to all the blood, sweat and tears that were undoubtedly going to make up the best experience of her life.

The boats came to a stop at cobblestone dock, and all the first years climbed out and followed Hagrid to the doors leading into the Great Hall. Professor McGonagall gave the speech that her brothers had all recited to her time and time (5 times actually) again before allowing them to enter.

Ginny looked at the banners flying over the four grand tables and searched for her brothers. She spotted them and gave a small wave. They were all beaming, waiting to congratulate her and welcome her into their house.

When Professor McGonagall pulled out the dusty old hat Ginny was astonished. This thing was going to tell us where we were going to sleep for the next seven years? One by one the first years were called up to get it placed on their head. Alphabetically, which meant that Ginny would probably be the last one standing. She looked at the startled faces of all of them once the hat was on their head and figured it out.

As it turns out Ginny was the last one standing. Her name was called and she walked up to the stool. Turned around and faced the entire student population. They were all bored and hungry. The fact that she was a Weasley meant that they probably weren't paying attention at all. Everyone knows where Weasley's go.

As the hat was lowered onto her head she caught a glimpse of the blond boy, Draco, from the book store. He was at the Slytherin table, staring at her.

"Ha, another Weasley." Ginny heard in her mind.

"Ah, so I was right." Ginny thought back.

"Right about all those startled faces, yes. So I shall put you with the rest of them."

"No." Ginny thought

"No? Why no?"

The students in the hall were ready for dinner to start. Slytherin, Hufflepuff, and Ravenclaw had all begun to talk amongst themselves, and Gryffindor was ready with their hands posed for applause. Even the staff looked ready to feint enthusiasm for the new addition.

"SLYTHERIN" The hat cried out.

The overwhelming sound of absolute silence filled the hall.

Ginny sat there, staring hard at her brothers flabbergasted expressions and smiled. No, not just smiled, she grinned. Then she looked up at Professor McGonagall who was supposed to take the sorting hat off her head. But the Professor was still taken aback. So Ginny hopped down off of the stool, took off the hat and placed it on the stool.

She walked slow and pointedly to her house table and sat down. She bit her lip and couldn't hold back a bubble of laughter that rose in her voice. As soon as it escaped the hall sprung back to life and everyone was talking very animatedly with each other.

Ginny caught Fred and George's eyes and gave a little wave and blew a kiss. At first they were still wonderstruck, then smiles slowly crept onto their faces as they remembered her inquisition on houses only a few nights previously.


End file.
